


red beat

by ZekeStrife



Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Underfell, Character Death, Gen, the Underground is not a nice place
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-04-16
Updated: 2016-04-16
Packaged: 2018-06-02 16:10:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,287
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6572995
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ZekeStrife/pseuds/ZekeStrife
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"DO THEY DESERVE THIS?" Papyrus asked, the red soul in his grasp beating gently. "... DID WE?"</p>
            </blockquote>





	red beat

The snow stretched on farther than the eye could see— a seemingly endless expanse of white powder, pure and glittering in the late day. Unblemished. Untouched.

Boots crunched closer, as the white slowly faded away.

Papyrus exhaled a puff of air, looking staunchly down at the spreading pool of blood— at the little body sprawled out in the snow, at the tiny soul gently floating above their broken body.

He had done it.

He had killed the human.

A small, hairline fracture cracked along the soul's surface. It faltered in its rhythmic beat, struggled into the next one.

Papyrus sighed. The snow crunched loudly beneath his boots, and with deft fingers, he undid his scarf.

The soul, seemingly sensing his approach, struggled anew— beating and beating, like a terrified thing.

In a quick motion, Papyrus snapped the soul up in his scarf, wrapping the red fabric around it.

"Calm down," he snapped, and even though the soul should not be able to hear him, to _understand_ , it calmed. Returned to its rhythmic beating.

With another soul so close, it didn't return to fracturing. So it simply beat on, a steady _thump-thump-thump_ in Papyrus hands.

Papyrus' gaze lingered briefly on the body; at the torn sweater, the brown hair and the closed eyes. Blood was swallowing up the snow around them.

And that was it— he turned away, stalked across the snow; long legs eating up the distance, boots leaving smears of red in the snow.

He didn't look back once.

 

Grillby's was its usual chaotic mess of noise— patrons jeering and shouting, minor fights breaking out in the corners.

Sans sat at the bar, hunched in on himself— the tips of his fingers tapped away at his glass, and his gaze was far off, focused on nothing in particular.

Grillby stood on the other side of the bar, hands busily drying off a glass— his gaze was on the room before him, going from patron to patron.

It was, truly, a normal day at Grillby's.

The door creaked opened— Grillby's gaze went there, and stayed; his hands paused in their job.

Papyrus stood in the doorway, body blocking off the light from outside— his eyes went directly to Sans.

It took only a few seconds, for the whole bar to quiet— Sans shifted, blinked back into reality, and turned around to figure out why everybody had shut up.

His eyes widened. In the depth of one socket, a blue light flickered in surprise.

"boss?"

His voice carried easily.

Papyrus didn't say anything— didn't need to. His eyes carried the message easily, and Sans had no trouble reading it.

_Come. Now._

He nodded, a quick jerk of his skull— turned to Grillby, and fished out the gold.

He didn't bother with any kind of pleasantry; simply laid the gold by his drink, and slipped out of his seat, striding across the floor as quickly as possible, without looking hurried.

Papyrus had already turned away, was already outside in the snow; Sans caught the door before it closed, and slipped out.

Outside, it was silent— snow blanketed every building, and the street was empty of people.

Just him, and Papyrus.

Sans hurried after his brother, managing to catch up quickly enough; his eyes went, immediately, to where Papyrus' scarf usually sat.

Worry gnawed, and after a quick glance around, Sans spoke: "bro..?"

The question went unsaid.

Papyrus shifted, eyes looking down at his brother. His face was still hard, but it almost seemed to soften at his brother's tone.

"I am fine," he said, voice nowhere near his usual level.

Sans sighed, softly, and nodded— he drew his attention away from the old cracks in the bone, and focused instead on walking.

It took them almost no time to get home; their house loomed over them, and Papyrus shifted aside, letting Sans unlock the door— he hadn't let go of his scarf for a second.

Sans frowned, and went inside.

As soon as Papyrus closed the door, Sans turned on him, arms crossed.

"bro, what's going on? you _never_ remove your scarf."

Papyrus frowned down at him. "I'll tell you in a _second_."

Sans scoffed, but stepped aside— followed Papyrus to the couch, and threw himself down on the cushions.

"you _better_ , after that scene at grillby's."

Papyrus huffed. He sat down, placed his scarf in his lap; and then he looked over at Sans.

"I found a human."

Sans' sockets widened. He leant forward, grin widening and teeth flashing. "that's _great_!" he frowned, then. "why're you being so cagey, then? 'ts a good thing, yeah?"

Papyrus frowned. He looked away, down at the scarf in his lap.

"I killed them."

Sans smile dipped, but just a bit; he leant closer, one hand coming up to rest on Papyrus' upper arm.

"couldn't have done anything else, bro. just how life is, yeah?"

Papyrus didn't answer, so Sans continued on: "beside, now the king can break the barrier! that's good, yeah?"

Papyrus frown deepened. Blue light flickered contemplatively in his sockets, and Sans' smile fell away.

"bro, whatever you're thinking, _stop it_."

Papyrus shook his head— finally meet Sans eyes again.

"I am not sure we should give the King the soul."

Sans jaw dropped.

He stared dumbly at Papyrus, before slowly clicking his teeth back together— he worked his jaw, searching for _anything_ to say.

Eventually, he spoke: "pap, that's— that's _stupid_."

Papyrus huffed. "Sans—"

But Sans pressed one palm to Papyrus face, ignored the angry glare that gained him.

"no, don't you fucking _sans_ me! the king needs just _one more soul_ to break the barrier, to _free us all_!" his voice cracked; anger glowed in his eyes. "and now you're saying we _shouldn't_ get the fuck out of here? that we shouldn't be _free_!"

Papyrus gaze softened— Sans glared up at him, teeth grit and shoulders raised. Red sparked in his sockets.

"this is what we've been dreaming of since we were brats, and now you _don't want it_?"

He pulled his hand back, clenched both of them. "what the **fuck** pap?"

Papyrus sighed. He looked down at the scarf in his lap, clicked his teeth.

"Do they deserve this?"

Sans blinked. "what?"

Papyrus sighed again, eyes closing. "The humans. _This_ human. Do they deserve this— this pain and terror and _hatred_."

His voice grew angry. His eyes opened, went to Sans.

"Did we?"

Sans' shoulders slumped. Comprehension settled on his face.

"pap..."

Papyrus shook his head. Continued: "If we break the barrier, this hell will just continue up there. We won't be free."

" _Nobody_ will be free."

Sans sighed. Slumped, and covered his face with his hands. "fuck," he murmured, voice suddenly very tired. "i hate it when you're right."

Papyrus straightened. Looked down at the scarf in his lap.

"We should let it fade," he said, decisive.

Sans rubbed at his face. "guess so," he said, and sat back up.

For a beat, a _thump-thump_ , they sat like that— the weight of the decision settling over them, like a heavy cloak.

Papyrus was the first to move.

He stood up, took the scarf with him— stepped forward, and laid it down in the middle of the room.

He stepped back smoothly.

Sans stood up too, stepped beside Papyrus— he hunched in on himself, hands in his pockets.

After what felt like years, but was only seconds, the scarf shifted— light spilled across the floorboards, a faded red colour.

The soul floated up, stopped a few feet off the ground. It hovered there, beating steadily.

A crack snapped the silence.

"This is the right choice," Papyrus said, voice forced stable.

Another crack broke the soul in half.

"yeah," Sans said, voice soft. "i guess it is."

**Author's Note:**

> a month later, and here i am, posting _Underfell_ of all things.  
>  tbh though, this is pretty much just my own take on it— minus the designs, which i'm pretty much sticking to. it definitely doesn't have anything to do with Papyrus having sharp teeth, no sir.  
> also, in case you're (for some reason) interested if i'm going to post more ~~Papyrus~~ Undertale: i got a lot of stories i want to write, all of them more or less Papyrus-centric. so yep, there's some stories on the horizon. 
> 
> anyway, thanks for reading! it you liked it, maybe leave a kudos, or a comment? it would be super appreciated. ♥


End file.
